


Dragons, kitties and puppies, oh my!

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 17:52:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13013034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: It’s time for Storybrooke’s Miner’s Day Festival and Gideon Gold is very excited.





	Dragons, kitties and puppies, oh my!

To say that Gideon was excited about the Miner’s Day festival would be an understatement of epic proportions. With the obsessive passion that a five-year-old can muster, he had learned everything about the history of the celebration, he’d been spouting trivia for weeks now. The only difficult moment had been when Gid had decided to put his knowledge into practice by ‘excavating’ a section of the backyard. He’d made a hell of a hole in the lawn before Belle had turned around from weeding to see what he was up to. Still his desire to dig had given Belle the idea that a sandpit would be a good addition to the yard, sooner rather than later.

Given this level of enthusiasm it was wishful thinking on Belle and Gold’s part to believe that they would get to sleep beyond six the morning of the festival. Belle groaned and buried her head under the pillow when the baby monitor picked up the first sounds of Gid moving around in his room. Gold pressed a sleepy kiss to her shoulder and muttered; “Relax, sweetheart, I’ll get him.”

He chose to believe that the sleepy grumble that came from his wife translated as “Thank you.”

Gid was rummaging in his closet when Gold ambled into his bedroom.

“Morning Papa. It’s Miner’s Day!”

Gold yawned as he nodded, “I know, it’s also very early. What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed.”

He eyed the odd combination of clothes Gid had selected for himself so far. Why he thought he needed three socks, and two jumpers was a mystery not to be considered before a cuppa.

“Okay, but how about we have breakfast first?”

\---

They arrive at the festival on the dot of eleven, just as the stalls opened. A fast glance around the food stalls made Gold very glad he had insisted on cooking a full breakfast, at least now there was a slim chance that Gid wouldn’t be wanting sweets too soon. Although his own sweet tooth was already eyeing up the colourful cupcakes festooning Astrid’s stall.

Belle glanced over Gid’s head and caught his eye; “Not until after lunch.”

His wife had an uncanny knack for reading his mind when it came to sweet treats, he gave her look of mock offence, but then smiled and nodded his head. She was right; it wouldn’t do to get Gid into bad eating habits, they were already having to sneak spinach into him by mixing it with mash potatoes and calling it ‘alien brains’.

For the moment Gid was preoccupied with the History of Mining stand. Leroy Coalman saw them coming and whistled to one of his six brothers, who were all manning the display.

“Hey Joey! Your favourite little mining buddy is here!”

Belle and Gold exchanged a puzzled look. Joey was the quiet Coalman brother, unkindly dubbed Dopey by some of the crueller citizens of town, He didn’t speak, usually, but he hurried across to Gid and gave him a high-five, before saying in a raspy voice; “Got your kit. You ready?”

Gid was bouncing on his toes; “I am!”

Joey looked shyly at Belle and Gold, words failed him in the face of two adults, but Leroy stepped up to explain; “Gideon and Joey made friends during the mine tour the other day. Joey’s got something special for Gideon to play with, if that’s alright?”

Gold wasn’t sure how to respond, but Belle was there with the sensible question; “Where are they going to play?”

“Just here at the stand. Joey knows not to wander off and we’ll all be keeping an eye out.”

“That’s okay then. Gid? Papa and I will be right here. What’s the rule?”

“No wandering off, Mama. Can I play with Joey now?”

“Yes, go on.”

Leroy clapped his brother on the shoulder as he and Gid scampered into the wide room that had been set up to resemble a mine shaft. Joey handed Gid a miner’s helmet and helped him adjust it, so it sat correctly on his head. The other kids were wearing plain white helmets, but Gid’s was painted with bright yellow diggers. 

Without taking his eyes off the two of them Leroy spoke over his shoulder to Gold and Belle.

“Your lad was the only one who talked to Joey during the school trip. Never seen Joey be so excited. Your lad was amazing rattling off all of these facts and figures about the mines, and he listened when Joey told him new ones. Joey’s spent the last few days painting that helmet for him and drawing him schematics of equipment.”

Leroy turned to look at them both; “Look, I know Joey ain’t the sharpest tool in the box, but he’s a good lad. Would you maybe think about letting him and Gideon meet up at the library or the park some time? With supervision of course, wouldn’t want the pair of them to get into bother.”

Gold was tight lipped; he was listening to Leroy’s suggestion, but he’d not been able to take his eyes off Gid. It was Belle who answered for them both; “I think a get together at the library would be a great idea. We’ll arrange something next week.”

Leroy’s normally gruff face split into a wide smile; “Thank you sister, thank you both.”

A shout from one of his other brothers called Leroy away. Gold was still watching Gid like a hawk, going so far as to stand almost on tip-toe as Gid and Joey ducked under the low tunnel cut out that was supposed to teach the kids about the cramped conditions in old mines. Belle squeezed his hand to get his attention and when he spared her only a flicker of a glance she moved to stand in front of him commanding his full focus.

“Sweetheart. Relax. Gid is fine. He’s playing with Joey and half a dozen other kids. He’s having fun and is perfectly safe.”

Gold sagged; “I know. It’s just, well, he’s our little boy and look at him, socializing and talking to people so easily.”

Gid was currently running around and around Joey, chasing or being chased by Neal Nolan and Alex Herman. It was amazing to Gold, who could never remember such a carefree moment in his own childhood. He smiled at Belle; “He’s amazing, just like his mother.”

Belle slid her hand up over his shoulder and ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck; “And like his father.”

\---

After lunch Gold was happily eating his cupcake when they approached the face painting stall. Gideon was turned into a green scaled dragon, hindered only slightly by his refusal to remove his miner’s helmet. It didn’t take much persuading from Ruby to get Belle to sit in the chair once Gideon was finished. Gold chuckled as Belle was turned into an adorable kitten. He licked the last of the icing from his fingers and fished his cell from his pocket; “Shall we have a photo of you two all painted up?”

He’d expected Gideon to agree, he loved having photos taken, but he shook his head and pushed his Papa towards the seat Mama had just risen from.

“You got to get face painted too, Papa, then we can take a photo of all of us.”

Ruby was grinning as Gid shoved Gold into the waiting chair; “Well, what shall it be?”

For a brief moment Gold wished he was still the feared landlord, the terror of the town, but that mask had dissolved when Belle had come into his life, the town apparently found it impossible to be intimidated by a man so lovestruck. He nodded his head at Gid; “This was your idea, son, what shall Miss Ruby paint me as?”

Gid got a sneaky grin on his face, and pulled Belle down to whisper in her ear. Belle chuckled and said; “Oh that’s a very good idea, Gid, tell Ruby.”

“Can you make Papa a puppy, please Miss Ruby?”

“A puppy? Why a puppy?”

“Because he was using his puppy dog eyes at Mama, so she’d let him have a cupcake.”

Gold felt a blush creep onto his face, but he couldn’t argue with Gid’s description. Ruby was laughing out loud as she picked up the face paints, “Okay, a puppy it is, erm can you hold your hair out of the way?”

“I’ll do that.”

Belle moved behind him and scooped his hair back off his face with her fingers. Her touch grounded him as he closed his eyes to allow Ruby to apply the paint, but he still felt vulnerable. Without being aware of it Gid eased his anxiety by chatting about dragons, and if dragons would be good miners, or would they eat all of the coal?

Belle was fiddling with his hair, which he thought was just to keep it out of Ruby’s way until he heard a smothered giggle, followed by Gid hissing ‘Shush!’. His family were clearly up to something sneaky. He kept his eyes closed until Ruby said; “All done!”

Gold opened his eyes to find his reflection staring back at him. He was a puppy. The face paint gave him the look of a spaniel, a look enhanced by the clips Belle had slipped into his hair to give him floofy ‘ears’.

He had to laugh at himself, in between chuckles he managed to say; “Very nice work Miss Ruby.”

She dipped a curtsy and returned the mirror to the table; “Gimme your phone, and I’ll take some photos of the three of you.”

He handed it over as Gid clambered into his lap, and Belle carefully rested her head on his shoulder.

“Okay, now make the right animal noises.”

Their mingled barks, meows and roars weren’t particularly harmonious, but they drew plenty of laughs from the crowd waiting for their turn at the face painting booth. Those laughs turned to soft ooohs when Gid patted Gold on the head and said; “Good Papa puppy.”

As they left the stall, Gold said to Belle; “You’re going to have to help me wash this off tonight, you know.”

Belle snuggled into his side and whispered; “I think that can be arranged, sweetheart.”

The husky hint of suggestion in her voice sent a shiver down his spine, before he could lean in and quietly ask her to elaborate Gid shouted at them; “Can we go on Whack-a-Mole?”


End file.
